


Four is Fate

by Neche



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Adult Stiles Stilinski, Canon Compliant, M/M, Mentioned Jennifer Blake, Mentioned Kate Argent, Past Derek Hale/Paige, Past Jennifer Blake/Derek Hale, Past Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Post Season 6B
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-21 23:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15568923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neche/pseuds/Neche
Summary: After years of friendship Derek and Stiles both realize how much the other really means to them. Once is an incident, twice is a coincidence, three's a pattern, what's four?For @thisnewjoeon on Tumblr for the Fandom Cares auction.





	Four is Fate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thisnewjoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisnewjoe/gifts).



**_“I’m home now if you want to stop by.”_** Stiles scoffed at the text _if you want to stop_ _by_ as if Stiles hasn’t been texting Derek nonstop to ask him to tell him as soon as he steps foot on Beacon Hills soil again. As if Stiles and Derek haven’t laid eyes on each other in a year. As if Stiles hasn’t been dying to see his pack mate, his friend, his Derek in all of that time.

 

 ** _“Be there in 10,”_** is Stiles only reply. As he shoves his feet into his shoes and grabs the keys to the jeep.

 

 ** _“Call me if you get lost.”_** Is the reply text Derek sends.

 

He insists on being absolutely ridiculous apparently. As if Stiles didn’t spend high school sneaking around the old Hale property. A few of those times he nearly died, you don’t forget it. It was the first time Stiles would see it restored though. Derek has been working on rebuilding the once burned down house for a couple of years while Stiles was away at school. Now that he’s graduated though he returned home and is more than excited to see what Derek created. He’s the last person to see it and everyone has been singing its praises. Stiles didn’t manage to make it home during breaks like the others so it been a while since he’s been back in BH and seen everyone. However he’s been back home for a couple of weeks but Derek just so happened to be visiting Cora in New York so Stiles has been anxiously waiting for his friends arrival for 14 days. Once Stiles hits the end of the trail a clearing opens to a true sight to behold.

 

Derek gets the tea ready as he waits for Stiles' arrival. He’ll probably get shit for not making coffee and having an actual tea set but he is way too tired for Stiles on coffee. He arrived back home a couple of hours ago and although Stiles threatened him if he didn’t text him the second his feet left the airport  he allowed himself time to get home and shower and take a small nap before texting his young friend. He’ll be pissed once he figures it out, and Stiles will figure it out he’s too smart not to, and the last thing he needs while he’s angry is to be caffeinated. Derek being a werewolf may have lighting fast reflexes but Stiles is Stiles and no one wants to deal with that while jetlagged.

 

He turns the burner on to heat the water as he hears the jeep's tires pull up to the house. He whips his palms on his jeans suddenly nervous. This is the first time Stiles with see the rebuilt Hale property. He finished 8 months ago now but Stiles hadn’t made it home in his last year at school to see the finished product. It was a nice enough house, everyone and their mom claimed but nothing like what it once was when Derek was a child. Actually it was nothing like it was. The old house had been completely demolished, not even the foundation was the same. The only things his childhood home and this one had in common is the area they sat and that Derek lived in both.

Derek can hear Stiles’ quick heartbeat and steps as he races up the porch steps and makes his way over to the door just as it bursts open. There’s a full minute of just them frozen in their spots. Stiles and Derek, Derek and Stiles, a year older, both extremely different but somehow the same. Stiles huffs a laugh before crushing Derek in a bear hug that he returns.

 

“Good to see you man,” Stiles smiles and Derek nods.

 

Stiles looks around at that moment and Derek walks around him to shut the door.

 

“This place is gorgeous.” Stiles says softly both knowing Derek can still hear it.

 

Derek feels his cheeks warm a bit before clearing his throat and turning back around.

 

“I’m making tea, do you want the tour while the water heats up?”

 

“Tea? Why the hell did you make me tea?” Stiles gives Derek a hard look before his eyes trail up and down and he notices a couple of things that give Derek away; the sweatpants he sleeps in, his disheveled hair, and his swollen eyes that indicate the werewolf had just waken up. “How long have you been here?!”

 

“Only 2 hours!” Derek argues and Stiles scoffs.

 

“It was a long flight with a baby and so I couldn’t nap. I’m sorry,” Stiles deflates and rolls his eyes.

 

“Fine give me the tour.”

 

Derek starts in the kitchen, explaining the wood, and granite tops Derek spent months hand picking before moving to the dining room. It’s a long dark wood table almost identical to the one Derek sat at with his family as a child. Derek made it himself. Next was the living room. It’s an open room with two long comfy couches and a small recliner all a dark brown, a black fluffy carpet on the ground also. The 90 inch flat screen is perfect for pack movie nights and now that most of them are back home Derek anticipates a lot of them. There’s a large window that gives them a view of the backyard and occupying forest. 

 

"Derek..." Stiles starts softly before trailing off.

 

Derek takes a deep breath and prepares for the insults. When he was a boy this was a bay window and the sill was cushioned to make a window seat. Derek used to do his English homework there. Now the window was flat and he was regretting that decision. He should've installed the bay window like before.

 

"This view is breathtaking... look at all the green... the animals. Can you hear them? You could probably see them from this view. Wow..." Stile smiles wide at the beauty before him.

 

"It’s just the forest," Derek scoffs before continuing the tour.

 

He covers the bottom floor first. This includes 3 guest rooms and 1 and a half bathrooms. Each room is painted a muted light blue to make it feel lighter and more open. The second floor has 4 rooms and another 2 bathrooms, 1 of the rooms is an office occupied by a wide window for light, a desk and laptop for whomever in the pact needs it. The other 2 rooms are also guestrooms with king sized beds & flat screens identical to the ones downstairs fit for pack sleepovers and the last and biggest room is the master bedroom (Derek's room) with its own bathroom but the only room besides the office without a TV. Instead a large bookshelf takes up most of one wall and a dresser on the other side. This room does have a bay window with the cushions for reading. 

 

"Nerd," Stiles chuckles.

 

"Jealous," Derek smirks.

 

Before Derek could take Stiles to his work station (the garage) Derek heard the telltale whistle of their heated tea water. 

 

"Our tea," is Derek's explanation for heading back towards the kitchen.

 

"So how’s the furniture business going?" Stiles asks once his tea is in front of him.

 

"Good," Derek nods while sipping from his cup. Stiles stifles a laugh. The corner of Derek's eye crinkle with laughter and Stiles knows his tea cup is hiding a smile. How he can sip tea without looking like a pretentious douche Stiles will never understand but he still finds the sight entertaining. "Danny helped me set up a website so I mail stuff around California. Maybe soon I can branch out around American but baby steps." 

 

Stiles chest fills with warmth so suddenly he has to make sure he didn’t take a drink of his tea yet. He hadn't. Stiles feels like he drank hot chocolate on Christmas with his parents. A safe contentment spreads throughout his body. Derek is happy and that makes Stiles happy. 

 

They catch up over tea. Stiles talks to Derek about his favorite classes and professors he's gonna keep in touch with. They talk about how excited he is for his new job. Derek shares his favorite furniture customers and what the pack has been up to since Stiles was away. He knows the big stuff of course but the small things they don't mention on the phone or through video chat. Derek gets a flashback of seeing his parents at the dinner table drinking coffee and talking about their day and his heart aches. He wants that. He wants a companion and friend to build a family with. That want has been itching at the back of his mind for some time now. It's no secret that the guest rooms will rarely be used by the pack they all have their own places and significant others to share time with. Truthfully Derek recreated his big family home because he was hoping to refill it with his own family someday and someday soon. But for right now Stiles is enough.

 

They finish their drinks and Derek takes him to the garage, his work station. It's where he makes all his furniture.

 

There's a bookshelf he's finished with and was getting it ready for shipping and some cut up wood for a bed frame. There was a table with a saw in it and a desk where he drew out his designs. His whole career was in that spacious garage. It wasn't much but it kept him busy and he enjoyed it. Derek didn't exactly need the money he was more than well off to do nothing for the rest of his life but the pack moving on from high school left him a little empty he wanted to do something with his time. Building the house from the ground up made him happy he learned a lot from the other construction workers and the architects, a lot of it he knew when his dad used to teach him how to fix stuff around the house. He found himself a little sad once the house was finished so he figured he can keep building things.

 

"Derek this bookshelf is beautiful," Stiles walks over to the shelf and admire the work by softly running his hands over the wood.  

 

"It didn't take long. I'm shipping it out tomorrow." Derek said sheepishly.

 

Stiles looked at him in shock; he really didn't understand how great he was did he?

 

"Let's go for a walk," Derek suggests. The fresh air always helped him clear his head.

 

The two head out and walk; Derek silently and Stiles fills the stillness with his voice saying anything and everything that comes to mind. He started talking about his new apartment, then switches to talking about their surroundings, then somehow got into the history of Beacon Hills itself. How Stiles' mind works Derek will never truly know but it is comforting. Derek himself was a quiet being and missed the constant chatter Stiles normally provides. God he missed this, missed him.

 

They hike up a small hill without thinking but once the surrounding starts to look familiar to Derek he realizes where they're coming to and smiles. He grabs Stiles' hand without thinking and pulls him along with a soft "come on".

 

Stiles feels his cheeks warm but says nothing as he follows Derek. Soon they hit a clearing and Stiles can see the small hill is actually a cliff over a lake. The view was like everything else on the Hale property breathtaking.

 

"Let's jump," Derek says while kicking off his shoes and tossing his shirt next to them.

 

"Are you out of your mind?!" Stiles exclaims while trying not to get distracted by the werewolf's chest.

 

"Don't you trust me?" Derek asks the phrase jokingly but the phrase was anything but light.

 

Stiles did, always had. Anytime Derek tossed him against a wall and threatened his life, anytime Derek insulted him and brushed him off like he was insignificant Stiles still saw beneath it all. Stiles knew Derek would rather hurt himself than a kid he didn't even know. That Derek would sacrifice himself a millions times just to keep Stiles safe even within the first minute of meeting him. Stiles trusted Derek because he knew him.

 

He knew he was a selfless caring being that would save a stranger without a second thought. Derek Hale's bark was always worse than his bite.

 

"With everything," Stiles whispers back determinedly.

 

The phrase turns the fresh air electric. Derek smiles beautifully and looks back down towards the water.

 

"Then let's jump."

 

Derek steps forward and kicks himself off the cliff; Stiles did the same no more than a second later. He could feel himself falling but in more ways than just the gravity pulling him towards the water. There was a reason he trusts Derek with everything. A reason he was ignoring viciously since the moment he met him. The feeling of content and wholeness Derek gave him. The feeling of safe and love. That's what it was. Love; there was no other word for the feeling. The warm water engulfs Stiles and once he breaks the surface he feels like a new person like he'd been baptized or something. He takes a deep breath and can't help but laugh. The joy he feels is too strong to contain.

 

He's a little surprised to hear Derek also laugh. He looks at the other male and smiles.

 

Derek was on the verge of his own revelation. Everything felt right, now. Since he had built the home there had felt like something was missing, like something that was supposed to be there wasn't anymore. If Derek was being honest with himself he had felt off kilter since Stiles left for school. The two males float around laughing and splashing each other in relative silence while enjoying the water. Having Stiles home, in Beacons Hills again, in his territory, in his newly built house had settled an unease he didn't realize his wolf had until now.

 

The ease spoke to him and seemed to say "he's home now, with you, where he needs to be" and Derek’s cheeks hurt with how wide his smile is.

 

The two of them slowly float closer together. Like Mother Nature herself decided what they couldn't. Something was different for both of them and they knew it. Something had been building under the surface for 7 years. Something they weren't ready for yet. Whether that be because of age, education, or location it wasn't their time. Now it was and there is no denying it. Derek finds Stiles' hips underwater when they were face to face and Stiles places his hands on Derek's shoulders. It doesn't feel awkward like when you first toe that line with someone, it felt like coming home from work and greeting a spouse, neither tries to think too hard about what was happening, they thought enough. Slowly they drift closer until their lips meet.

 

It didn't so much feel like fireworks were exploding as it did like a bonfire crackling. The type of fire you sit at with your love ones roasting marshmallows. Loving Derek wasn’t like a roller-coaster filled with adrenaline it felt like warm Christmas huddled inside with hot coco. Every other love Stiles had felt in his life were all excitement and heart pounding and palm sweating this was a warm embrace, safety, and the relaxation of a Sunday morning. It was different but right. 

 

Derek felt the same. He needed calm. He had only been in love truly twice before. His first with Paige, if you look up puppy love in a dictionary a picture of them would be in it. The end of that relationship was one of the greatest pains Derek ever had to deal with. Then there was Kate, although one sided and false Derek did love the idea Kate presented him with. That love was like driving fast cars, and the excitement of getting caught doing something wrong, it was like when food tastes better stolen. It was bad and toxic and sick but it was love in its most heartbreaking forms. Derek wanted to settle down but he needed safety and security too just because he is a werewolf doesn't mean he's unbreakable. Kissing Stiles reminded him of the feeling he got when he came home for the first time in years. It feels like him and everything around him settled.

 

They got out and got their shoes and shirts before heading back to the house hand and hand. Derek's jetlag caught up to him and they decide to call it a day and promise to reconnect later and actually talk about what happened. 

 

 

 

Once is an incident, twice is a coincidence, three's a pattern, what's four? Four is fate.

 

The first time Derek trusted Stiles was when Kate shot him with the wolfsbane bullet. He may have asked for Scott, but he ended up with Stiles. He stayed in the jeep though because deep down he knew that was his best option. That's when Derek knew he trusted Stiles with his life.

 

The second time was when Stiles came to him with tears in his eyes asking Jennifer (Derek's girlfriend at the time) where she took his dad. Derek knew he was telling the truth and she was the liar. That's when Derek knew he trusted Stiles more than he trusted himself, his instincts.

 

The third time was when Stiles wasn't actually there at all. When Kate kidnapped Derek and had him trapped in Mexico. Derek would've gone insane if he hadn't created a dream Stiles to comfort him in his loneliness. That's when Derek knew he trusted Stiles with his mind.

 

The truth is Derek trusted Stiles with his body, mind, and soul, now he was asking him to trust him with his heart.

 

As paranoid as Derek has always been around people a part of him had always trusted Stiles. Even the first time he laid eyes on him. It was in the sound of his heartbeat steady but quick, the feel of his soft skin that Derek touched the many times he threatened the teen into helping him, the looks Stiles shot at him when he thought Derek wasn't paying attention that the older male still couldn't decipher, the smell that was so strong Derek could taste it, it tasted like honey, and smelled like the forest after it rained.

 

Even if Derek the human didn't know or trust Stiles, his wolf sure did. His basic instincts did.

 

Derek looked at the texts again.

 

**_"Go on a date with me?"_ **

****

**_"Are we ready for that?"_ **

****

**_"Of course don't u trust me?"_ **

****

**_"With everything."_ **


End file.
